15 Facts And Symptoms Of Pancreatic Cancer You Should Never, Ever Ignore

Pancreatic cancer today, has the highest death rates in the world and there is a reason for it. Pancreas is an organ is just 6 inches long tucked behind our stomach. Its main job is to help digest our food and control blood sugar levels. Just because this organ seamlessly functions without any fuss and apparently without any need of attention, people generally forget that it exists! But boy does it exist when it starts giving us trouble.

1Even young people can contract pancreatic cancer

This is probably the reason that less than 2% of people worldwide are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer according to National Cancer Institute. In 2017, 43,090 Americans died of Pancreatic cancer where survival rates of the disease is just 8.2%. The disease is common over the age of 60 but younger people have also been afflicted by it too. Some of them as young as 20 or 30 years which is really alarming. 

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2Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate

The scariest part of pancreatic cancer is its high mortality rates! It has the highest death rates of any cancer- according to a data provided by NSI, a mere 8% people survive for 5 years after the diagnosis. This diabolical discovery can be logically explained too. Pancreatic cancer is virtually impossible to detect in its initial early traceable age. According to the American Cancer Society- The organ is located so deep within our bodies that any early tumors can’t be seen or felt and by the time people do start to notice something amiss, it’s already too late. This cancer usually has spread to other organs by this time, which itself means a death warrant for the patient.

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3People ignore common symptoms

According to the experts, there is a dangerous trend in people especially in women to wait and see the doctor until the symptoms are really bad; doctors call it not just stupid because, pancreatic cancer has such high death rates, procrastinating over it is downright suicidal! To help you out of this morbid ditch the doctors have come up with the next 10 crucial symptoms of pancreatic cancer. As soon as you feel any of these symptoms, rush to emergency or your doctor soon as possible. 

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4You look four months pregnant

We are not talking about the bloated feeling after a heavy meal, but if your stomach is constantly bloated out (especially in women) it can be a red flag for something really dangerous. Pancreatic tumors enlarge causing the belly to bloat up. Usually, this is the first sign women notice but they ignore it. No matter whatever is the reason you must immediately get it checked out as it necessarily might not be cancer but on an off chance it can be a sign of ovarian cancer too as their symptoms are similar. It’s always better be safe than sorry. 

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5Your eyes and skin turn yellow

Yellowing of the whites of the eye is a sign of myriad of deadly maladies. It could be alcoholism, liver failure, and pancreatic cancer as well. As the pancreatic tumor usually starts developing close to the bile duct it puts pressure and obstructs this duct which carries bile from liver to the gallbladder through the pancreas to the small intestine. Then it removes the waste product of RBC called Bilirubin. Now that the bile duct is obstructed due to the tumor, excess of bilirubin causes jaundice and yellow eyes. 

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